Instructions for Authors

Veterinary Record is the official journal of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and has been published weekly since 1888. It contains
news, comment, letters, scientific reviews and original research papers and communications on a wide range of veterinary topics,
along with disease surveillance reports, careers information, product news and summaries of research papers in other journals.

Contributions and suggestions for all sections of the journal are welcome. Papers, short communications and scientific reviews
are subject to peer review; other items are published at the discretion of the Editor. Case reports may be considered if they
make a significant contribution to veterinary knowledge.

Submissions are accepted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and that they are subject to editorial
revision. All published material is copyright of the BVA.

Types of technical articles considered for publication

High-quality original studies of the efficacy of treatments or interventions, such as controlled, blinded studies with statistically
significant results

Case series with descriptions of substantial numbers of cases that can help clinicians to define diagnostic signs, including
biochemical, immunological or molecular markers or other important variables

Occasionally, single case reports, but only when they are of real novelty or potential significance, for example, novel infectious
diseases such as the first case of BSE

Substantive epidemiological studies yielding conclusions of international significance or of national significance to the
UK on the aetiology, risk factors, prevalence, distribution, incidence or economic impact of disease/ill health; including
public health

Research on veterinary education, ethics and on aspects of veterinary practice and the welfare of veterinarians

Peer-reviewed research papers and short communications are published continuously and in full online but are not published
in full in the print version of Veterinary Record. Instead, a structured summary in the print journal highlights the main findings and significance of the work, along with
any factors that might affect the interpretation of the results. By presenting the information in a concise and standardised
format, the findings will be readily accessible to a wider professional readership. Readers wanting more detail about the
study will be able to find this by referring to the full version online.

Each summary includes the title, author details and the doi number that links to the full paper online.

Authors will be requested to provide the summary once the manuscript is at the revision stage, that is, it has been reviewed
and the reviewer(s) comments have been taken into account. Please submit the summary along with the revised version. Final
acceptance will not be given without it.

A summary of a paper will be approximately 900 words or 400-700 with a figure or table (depending on the size of the figure or table).

A summary for a short communication will be approximately 400 words. Unfortunately, no figures/tables can be included.

Both should be formatted as individual paragraphs with the following headings:

Context (why the question addressed by the paper is important)

Main conclusion

Approach (including an indication of methods)

Results

Interpretation (including any reasons why the results should be interpreted with caution)

Significance of findings (potential application/impact)

If authors wanting to submit papers have any question about this, these can be directed to editorial{at}bva-edit.co.uk . More information can be found here.

The Editor retains the right to reject manuscripts on the basis of ethical or animal welfare concerns. Papers may be rejected
on ethical grounds if the study involves unnecessary pain, distress, suffering or lasting harm to animals, or if the severity
of the experimental procedure does not appear to be justified by the value of the work presented. We ask that the work would
be likely to gain approval in Britain under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act or equivalent regulations.

Reporting guidelines

Veterinary Record supports the use of reporting guidelines to ensure that studies are reported in the best possible way. The
guidelines listed below should be followed where appropriate; please use these to structure your article. Completed applicable
checklists, structured abstracts and flow diagrams of study subjects should be uploaded with your submission.

CONSORT Statement (for reporting of randomised controlled trials: please use the appropriate extension to the CONSORT statement, including
the extension for writing abstracts)

Article types

Cover pictures

We invite authors to submit photographs or illustrations that might be used on the front cover of Veterinary Record when their paper is published. Digital images should be sent as GIF, TIFF, EPS or JPEG files at a minimum resolution of 300
dpi at an image size of 22 cm width. When submitting images please include details of who the picture should be credited to.

Research papers

Research papers should include a title of not more than 15 words; the names, qualifications and addresses of each author;
an e-mail address for the corresponding author; and an abstract of not more than 200 words covering the methods and results
of the study. They should be set out in the following sections: abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion,
acknowledgements, references. Clinical papers should follow a similar overall arrangement, modified appropriately. The text
should be as concise as possible; the length should not exceed 4000 words. The word count excludes the title, author details,
abstract, tables, figure legends, acknowledgements and references. After a manuscript has been revised, authors will be asked
to submit both a 'marked copy' with changes tracked in Word and a 'clean' copy with no tracked changes. On acceptance, a one-page
summary of the article will be requested and must be provided before the paper is published online (for more information click here). To submit a paper click here

Short communications

Preliminary accounts of work, short clinical reports and significant case reports for publication as short communications
should follow a similar format to papers but should exclude a summary and subheadings. The title should be no more than 10
words, the text should not exceed 1000 words and only one or two figures and/or tables should be included. The word count
excludes the title, author details, abstract, tables, figure legends, acknowledgements and references. After a manuscript
has been revised, authors will be asked to submit both a 'marked copy' with changes tracked in Word and a 'clean' copy with
no tracked changes. On acceptance a half page summary of the article will be requested and must be provided before the short
communication is published online (for more information click here). To submit a short communication click here

Scientific reviews

Scientific reviews are commissioned, but submitted manuscripts will also be considered. All manuscripts are peer reviewed
and can be submitted here. If submitting an unsolicited manuscript, please state in the covering letter that it is a review article. Typically, we
would expect articles to be around 3000 words, excluding references. If you would like to suggest a subject for a review article
please email bva.editorial{at}bmj.com.

Viewpoints

Viewpoint articles aim to provide informed comment on topical subjects relevant to the veterinary profession; they are usually
commissioned but submissions will be considered. A short title of no more than eight words, text of between 750 and 1000 words
and a brief (about 40 words) introduction highlighting the argument presented should be included, along with a head and shoulders
photograph of the author(s), full name, address and email address. Articles can include up to five references. Images or diagrams
can be included, but may reduce the space available for the text. To submit a viewpoint article e-mail: bva.editorial{at}bmj.com.

Letters

Letters on all topics related to the science, practice and politics of veterinary medicine and surgery will be considered
for publication. The length should not usually exceed 400 words and may be shortened for publication. References should given
when necessary. Up to two photographs can be accommodated if appropriate and tables will occasionally be allowed. Submission
by e-mail is preferred but letters submitted by post or fax will be considered. Full address details of all authors as well
as an e-mail address for the corresponding author should be supplied and will be published. To submit a letter to the editor
e-mail: bva.editorial{at}bmj.com .

Research digest

Papers that have been published in other journals, that are likely to be of interest to readers of Veterinary Record, will
be considered for summary in the Veterinary Record's Research Digest section. If you have a recently published paper you would
like to be considered for this section, please email a PDF of the published article to: bva.editorial{at}bmj.com.

Products & services

Products & services aims to help keep readers up to date with some of the products and services available to the veterinary
profession. Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers who wish to submit information about new products and services
for possible inclusion in the Products & services section are encouraged to do so, and should email any news releases to:
products{at}bva-edit.co.uk

Vet Record Careers

Vet Record Careers aims to reflect the diverse range of career options available to vets and related professionals. It includes
features, tips, news and interviews on employment and educational issues, and on personal and professional development. Suggestions
for articles are welcome. To send an idea e-mail: vetcareerseditorial{at}bva-edit.co.uk

Books

Book reviews are published regularly in Veterinary Record. Books to be considered for review should be sent to:

Veterinary Record, BMJ
BMA House, Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9JR
UK

If you are unsure about the suitability of a book or have any queries about the review process please e-mail: bva.editorial{at}bmj.com . Published reviews include full details about the book as well as a colour image of the cover, which should be sent to books{at}bva-edit.co.uk

Gazette

Among other things, Veterinary Record's Gazette includes obituaries and notifications of deaths. Aimed at a UK audience it
also includes personal announcements, such as births, marriages and news of professional appointments or awards, along with
details of grants and awards that are available or have recently been made. Death notices should include the date of death,
the deceased's full name, qualifications as would be listed in the RCVS Register, the deceased's address, the veterinary school
where they qualified and their year of qualification. These details can be published as a standalone notice or as part of
a full obituary. Obituaries should include the name(s) of the author(s); those submitting obituaries or death notices should
provide their full name and contact details. Submissions by e-mail are preferred, but items can also be submitted by post
or fax. To submit an item for the Gazette e-mail: gazette{at}bva-edit.co.uk

News and features

If you have information you would like considered for inclusion in the News section of Veterinary Record, or ideas for feature
articles, e-mail: bva.editorial{at}bmj.com.

Plagiarism detection

BMJ is a member of CrossCheck by CrossRef and iThenticate. iThenticate is a plagiarism screening service that verifies the
originality of content submitted before publication. iThenticate checks submissions against millions of published research
papers, and billions of web content. Authors, researchers and freelancers can also use iThenticate to screen their work before
submission by visiting www.ithenticate.com.

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